ByIDAN KWELLER, ARIELLA ROITMANJULY 31, 2026 09:27Washington has been working to ensure that the Trump-backed Hamas disarmament plan prevents another October 7-style attack, senior US officials told reporters during a Thursday evening press conference."When we met with Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team, we said, ‘We need to obviously focus on getting the hostages released. We need to get the the bodies home, and we need to also make sure that this [the October 7 massacre] never happens again,'" a senior US official said, adding that the deal is intended to "really change the game in Gaza."A senior US official said Hamas initially had significant concerns about whether Israel would honor its commitments, leading to "very delicate negotiations" with the terror group.Senior US officials argued that the proposal differs from previous approaches because of its strategic framework and its disciplined, intensive implementation.They also praised the agreement for having "unified the Arab world."The IDF carries out ground operations in the Gaza Strip. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)"There was a lot of criticism, particularly from Israel, when Turkey and Qatar joined the Board of Peace, but they, along with Egypt, have been essential partners in keeping the ceasefire together," a senior US official said.This "gives us a pathway to continue building trust in a place where there is no trust in order to move forward."BoP calls Gaza disarmament deal a 'breakthrough'A senior Board of Peace (BoP) official also praised the breakthrough agreement, highlighting the cooperation of several Middle Eastern countries."There were many concerns within Hamas, and this was a delicate negotiation over the past several months that brought us to this breakthrough. In the coming weeks, we will move forward to advance its implementation.""We consulted with all the countries of the region, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Emirates, and others," the senior BoP official added. "They all helped us, from their perspective, understand the Gaza issue, and the entire implementation of this agreement is a regional effort."Senior US officials said previous proposals relied on "NGOs and terrorists," making them inherently dysfunctional.With the creation of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), a Palestinian-led government, there is a real alternative to the Palestinian Authority: "a technocratic, apolitical government that's really looking to do this," a senior US official said."We don't want Hamas to regenerate. We need to change the way this works, and one of our goals is to get Gaza completely off aid."Instead, officials said reconstruction will focus on developing Gaza's workforce through job training, education, healthcare, and other essential services.Senior US officials added that the Board of Peace's goal is to "hold Israel to its commitments as well," serving as a "fair broker" while giving Gazans "a chance at having a good life there.""It [Gaza] could be a very, very peaceful and exciting place," a senior US official said.However, senior US officials emphasized that "one of the important things for Israel is that it will not withdraw as long as there is a Hamas threat; Israel's withdrawal will occur according to a schedule to be determined later.""We are not asking Israel for anything right now except for its agreement to Trump's original plan that brought the hostages home, Trump's 20-point plan," senior US officials said.An Israeli soldier walks through a tunnel underneath Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, amid the ongoing ground operation of the Israeli army against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the northern Gaza Strip, November 22, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun EDITOR'S (credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)Deal will decommission terror weapons, hand tunnels over to the International Stabilization ForceA senior Board of Peace (BoP) official said the agreement was built on the "basis of zero trust" between Hamas and Israel."For the first time, Hamas and the Palestinian factions have agreed to accept this entire framework and have agreed on a way to implement it," the senior BoP official said. "And that framework includes everything from demilitarization and de-radicalization to the transfer of civilian authority in Gaza and to the transfer of security authority in Gaza as well to the national committee."According to the senior BoP official, the deal's most significant achievement is establishing a complete monopoly over weapons while ensuring Hamas fully exits governing Gaza."A lot of the roadmap deals with the issues related to weapons, to weapons belonging to the police, heavy weapons, tunnels, personal weapons, militias, etc. We've left no gray zone in these issues in the roadmap," the senior BoP official said.The roadmap also includes a phased process to decommission heavy weapons, dismantle weapons depots, and eliminate Gaza's tunnel network, the senior BoP official said."Heavy weapons and the tunnels, the handling of which will be entrusted to the International Stabilization Force, and the personal weapons in Gaza, will be handled under Palestinian law," the senior BoP official added.A senior US official added that all armed factions in Gaza would need to be demilitarized and all of their weapons decommissioned.The proposal has been explored extensively, the senior US official said. The next phase is implementation, including the halting of all military activity in Gaza. The Sharm el-Sheikh protocol, the senior US official said, includes commitments from both Israel and Hamas, as well as the Palestinian factions, to halt military activity in the Strip.A truck carrying aid arrives at a tent camp, as Displaced Palestinians who fled their houses due to Israeli strikes, take shelter there amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near the border with Egypt in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 6, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/MOHAMMED SALEM)For Israel, that also includes facilitating humanitarian aid and provisional assistance."We want to be very clear that as the NCAG comes in, it not only takes off responsibility for things in Gaza, but it actually has the freedom to operate and work effectively," a senior BoP official said.Another senior BoP official said the Palestinian Authority must reform before it can ultimately assume responsibility in the Gaza Strip."The NCAG is a transitional authority," the senior BoP official said. Hamas stepping away from government will "reignite the prospect for a political solution for the Palestinian people. The political horizon comes when the PA is reformed and is able to take over its responsibilities in Gaza."Internal Gazan social peace agreement to be implementedA senior BoP official said the roadmap also includes an internal social peace agreement between Gaza's factions, an aspect that has received little public attention.The agreement will "protect them from internal violence and call on them to refrain from acts of revenge, show of force, military parade, and armed demonstrations," all of which have "destabilized the whole process."The reconstruction of the Gaza Strip will be prepared and supervised by the Board of Peace and the National Committee "in accordance with international standards," the senior BoP official added.Asked about reports that Iran had urged Hamas not to rush into an agreement, a senior US official said Tehran had effectively abandoned the terror group."They can't afford to keep them going," the senior US official said. "Hamas understood that it needed to do what's good for it. Everything Khamenei has touched in the Middle East has turned into a disaster for the people living there."Senior US officials added that "there was intensive planning every day to create a successful Gaza. We raised funds, soldiers for the international stabilization force, and we trained local Palestinian forces to take the reins from Hamas."Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house that was pre-warned by the Israeli military to evacuate before the strike was carried out late on Wednesday, in Al-Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, July 16, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa)Deal is a 'historic step,' officials say"This is an amazing historic step, with the aim that all the tunnels will be eliminated, the weapons will be collected, and we will be engaged in building houses and apartments and not terrorism against Israel."Asked about the implementation timeline, senior US officials said, "We will do it right, as quickly as possible. It is complex. In the coming weeks we will summarize the details and hope to see the process carried out in the next month or two."Full implementation of the agreement is expected to take between 200 and 300 days, according to senior US officials."Everything depends on completing things step by step; no stage will begin before the previous one is finished," they said.Follow us on Google